Say what you want, but I thought Roadrunner was a fair documentary about Anthony Bourdain. He certainly isn’t the first, and unfortunately won’t be the last, of middle aged men who fall in love with a young woman, champion her causes and career, and then suffer heartbreaking infidelity. Obviously, women (including yours truly) have also had their trust trashed, however, I’d bet the largest vulnerable demographic is of Anthony’s age (late 50’s on up).
Factors include compulsive behavioral tendencies, failed relationships, fear of aging and mortality, career or world ennui and low self-esteem.
The doc does well to take a chronological, but perfectly paced history of Anthony’s trajectory, from dishwasher to chef to author to mega tv star. His wise and acerbic writing ability of which he acknowledges the power of is what helped catapult him to popularity.
And the director, Morgan Neville, equally famous, winning Oscars for Twenty Feet From Stardom and Won’t you Be My Neighbor, strikes the tricky balance between empathy, anger, and keen disappointment left in the wake of his suicide. Make no mistake, suicide was the wrong option, as The Wood Brothers song so classically begs in “Give it One More Day”; “when your faith is gone, give it one more day.” Yet the pain, embarrassment and the aforementioned middle aged angst overcame him one day and hence, we’re left with tears and memories. Now we need to focus on the latter as that’s all we have the power over.
Roadrunner: Heartbreaking, But Fair
